Organisers unveil plans for centenary edition

THE organisers of Nollywood Movie Awards (NMA), which is slated for October 18 at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, have begun a strategic marketing of the scheme, which they described as glamorous and developmental.

The awards ceremony, which entered its third edition this year, is hinged on support for the country’s motion picture industry, as a significant export that has added up to the centenary celebration.

“In 2012, we decided to stage the inaugural Nollywood Movies Awards. We felt the need to give back, by way of recognition, into an industry that has brought over a million jobs to Nigeria. It is one of our biggest exports after crude oil. We believed that its practitioners deserved to be valued and appreciated.

“We are proud of what Nollywood is doing for Nigeria and Nigerians. So, this is our way of giving back to the industry and the people driving it forward. Last year, our ‘Star’ prize was a Nissan saloon, which was won in a live ballot on the night by O.C. Ukeje, winner of NMA ‘Best Actor’ in 2013,” said Dipo Winsala and Alfred Soroh, both executive directors of Nollywood Movies TV, at the media unveiling of the centenary edition.

The NMA is the flagship awards event of Nollywood Movies TV, a UK-based Nollywood movies channel on SKY 329.

The NMA team has entered into an agreement with a Lagos-based Integrated Marketing Communications company, Media Specialties Ltd., for the purpose of marketing the 2014 Centenary event and all associated products and services, including the Nollys Blog and its NMA media inventory.

As marketing consultant to the NMA, Media Specialties is expected to embrace and promote the awards event as a viable brand. The theme of this awards show is: “100% Nollywood”.

The media specialties team is being led by Mr. Michael Adeyanju and Miss Titilola Odufuye. According to them, “Sponsors will enjoy corporate or brand exposure to audiences in three continents with combined audience reach of over 20 million viewers across Africa, Europe and South America.”

The award categories have been expanded to 30 this year, including special recognition to films done in indigenous Nigerian languages.

The NMA centenary edition, among other objectives, seeks to showcase Nigeria’s culture and bring the awareness of Nollywood in the Diaspora and beyond.

Although the Nollywood Movies (Sky 329) will be running a UK-based campaign on its station, a number of media collaborators like SKY Channel 199 (Vox Africa), GoTV, AIT cable channel, ONTV, Silverbird TV, among others, will add to the reach of millions of viewership across the globe.

The organisers have also assured that each of the category nominees has been voted for by a multinational panel of independent Nollywood buffs, most of whom are experienced film academics. The NMA’s commercial director, Ope Bankole, said: “Un1ty TV, our online media partners, gives the NMAs an unprecedented global online presence, which is the advertiser’s dream. This ensures that wherever you are, you can link to the NMAs on the night.